TimesLIVE - In The News

EXCLUSIVE | Interview with Rob Matthews, father of kidnapped and murdered Leigh Matthews

He did not know what evil looked like until he looked in the face of Donovan Moodley, the man who kidnapped and murdered his daughter 17 years ago, Rob Matthews says. Leigh Matthews’ father speaks about survival in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Times.

25 Jun 2021 6AM 17 min

Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi apologises for his '10 babies' story

Pretoria News editor Piet Rampedi has apologised to his colleagues for the damage his story on SA’s so-called “Thembisa 10” babies did to Independent Media’s reputation. Two weeks ago, Rampedi broke the “story” of how Gosiame Sithole had “given birth to 10 babies at a Pretoria hospital”. But almost immediately…

23 Jun 2021 3AM 4 min

‘I think they stole my iPad’: Ramaphosa puzzled as gadget goes Awol

Moments before delivering an important announcement in Cape Town on Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is a stickler for time, had a moment of panic when he could not locate his iPad. His announcement that the National Ports Authority was now an independent subsidiary of Transnet was briefly delayed because…

23 Jun 2021 2AM 1 min

Will ID documents hinder transgender women from taking part in Miss SA?

The prestigious Miss SA beauty pageant has caught the attention of many in recent weeks after the announcement that it is open to transgender women. However, internationally, women entering beauty pageants are required to have their ID reflect that they are female — raising concerns that IDs may become a…

22 Jun 2021 1AM 2 min

Miss SA is more than a beauty pageant 

After the announcement that the prestigious beauty pageant, Miss SA, is now open to transgender women, KwaZulu-Natal based LGBTQIA+ activist Muzi Zuma told TimesLIVE that the pageant has been about more than “just beauty” for years. 

22 Jun 2021 1AM 1 min

What does it mean to be transgender? 

The Miss SA pageant has caught the attention of many in recent weeks after the announcement that it is open to transgender women. The talk about Miss SA has not only received positive feedback from the public, but it has also raised questions about what it means to be transgender…

22 Jun 2021 1AM 1 min

Transgender inclusion at Miss SA pageant couldn't have come at a better time, says activist 

The prestigious Miss SA beauty pageant has caught the attention of many in recent weeks after the announcement that it is open to transgender women. It isn't clear why the inclusion of transgender women did not receive much public attention until now, but KwaZulu-Natal based LGBTQIA+ activist Muzi Zuma told…

22 Jun 2021 1AM 1 min

FULL ADDRESS | President Cyril Ramaphosa moves SA to Level 3

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday announced that the country would be moved to lockdown level 3 restrictions. This means that, among other things, the curfew has been tightened, alcohol sales restricted, and the number of people allowed to gather reduced.

15 Jun 2021 3PM 24 min

IEC to approach Constitutional Court if 2021 local government elections are postponed due to Covid-19

The Electoral Commission (IEC) will approach the Constitutional Court to seek an appropriate remedy should former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke – who has been tasked with investigating whether it will be viable to hold a free and fair election October – recommend a postponement. “The commission would have to…

11 Jun 2021 8AM 11 min

'They're fighting for their lives,' says aunt as family strives to protect the Tembisa 10

SA's most famous babies — the “Tembisa 10" — are in an undisclosed hospital in Pretoria “fighting for their lives”. This is according to the babies' aunt, who spoke to TimesLIVE on Wednesday evening. She asked not to be named.

10 Jun 2021 1AM 1 min

SA's GDP figures show better-than-expected growth in Q1 of 2021

A pickup in household spending and robust activity in SA's mining and finance industries helped the country’s pandemic-battered economy grow a better-than-expected 4.6% in the first three months of 2021, marking a third consecutive quarter of recovery. Annabel Bishop, chief economist at Investec, outlines the Q1 GDP result, drawing particular…

8 Jun 2021 6AM 2 min

UK public expresses mixed reactions to name of Harry and Meghan’s new baby

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry welcomed their second child, Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor or “Lili” for short, into the world on June 4. The baby was named after her grandmother, Princess Diana, and great-grandmother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. However, given the strenuous and widely publicised split between the young couple…

8 Jun 2021 5AM 3 min

SA's new Olympic kits have been pioneered by local designers for the first time

When Team South Africa lines up in their attire for the prestigious parade of athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony in Japan next month, it will be the work of four unknown young Durban designers that will be showcased to the world. Thanks to the creative talents of…

4 Jun 2021 6AM 6 min

‘Incredible arrogance’: how the Guptas tried to bully me

Themba Maseko says he used profanities to tell the Guptas to get lost, and earned the ire of his boss then-President Jacob Zuma. The former chief government spokesman shares details of his uncomfortable nteractions with the Guptas and being betrayed by Zuma and others in the ANC, in the memoir,…

4 Jun 2021 1AM 52 min

What next for the Pan African Parliament?

The fourth ordinary session of the fifth Pan African parliament was suspended yesterday, with no resumption date in sight. This follows chaotic scenes during a debate on the organisations elections process, which led to the collapse of an ordinary session held in Midrand this week. At the heart of the…

3 Jun 2021 3AM 6 min

FULL ADDRESS | President Cyril Ramaphosa moves SA to level 2

SA will move to lockdown adjusted level 2 from Monday. President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday already confirmed that tighter restrictions were on the cards as SA enters its third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He said there has been a sustained average 3,745 daily new infections — a 67% increase…

30 May 2021 12PM 27 min

All you need to know | Zuma returns to court

In what resembled more of a concert than a court case, scores of former president Jacob Zuma’s supporters gathered outside the Pietermaritzburg high court on Wednesday. Inside the courtroom, Zuma pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering, corruption, fraud and money laundering before presiding judge Piet Koen. Here is everything…

26 May 2021 9AM 7 min

New initiative tries to make the science around Covid-19 easier to understand

Singer-songwriter Nibs van der Spuy plucks at his six-string guitar, sending an African-inspired tune into the Durban air. His audience is enthralled - but it is an audience of just one person, virus expert Prof Tulio de Oliviera. The two are sitting outside, 2m apart, and chatting as part of…

21 May 2021 10AM 10 min

What legal action is being taken by the Myeni family?

Court documents filed by Lindsay Myeni's attorney, James Bickerton, claim the trio of police officers who shot Lindani Myeni, had failed to announce that they were police officers. According to the court papers: “The failure of the officers to announce they were police officers or declare their purpose was not…

21 May 2021 5AM 10 min

FULL INTERVIEW | Recently widowed Lindsay Myeni calls for racial discrimination and injustice to end

According to now widowed Lindsay Myeni, in the last hours of Lindani Myeni's life he sought spiritual protection, displayed erratic behaviour and told his wife Lindsay that he had seen his ancestors. Later that evening the 29-year-old former KwaZulu-Natal rugby player took a drive to clear his head and never…

21 May 2021 5AM 1 hr 16 min